Singing In The Rain
by lynnsenpai
Summary: "Ever seen it?" - "I have not." - "Oh. It's really good, you oughta see it sometime!" - Alfred walks Natalia home. {amebela; human/high school au}


"I forgot my umbrella and you offered to walk me home in the rain and I thought this would be the beginning of a cute love story but you're really shit at this oh my god my shoulder is so wet, hold the damn thing properly wth man"

 _this is bad, rip_

"I'm siiingin' in the rain, just siiiiingin' in the rain," Alfred crooned, twirling the handle of his red, white and blue umbrella as he splashed through the puddles on the sidewalk. "What a glorious feeeelin'! Um… somethin', some-some-somethin'….

He paused mid-step, furrowing his eyebrows and humming the tune, trying to remember the words he'd forgotten. Then, with a shrug, Alfred smiled again and gave his umbrella another spin.

"I'm laaaughin' at clouds, so dark up above!" he sang, shooting the dark gray sky a brilliant grin. The swollen black clouds only rumbled irritably in reply, and he shook his head. "The sun's in my heeeart, and I'm ready for…!"

The unsang word fell mute from his lips, as the slender silhouette of the girl standing beneath the awning of a darkened shop caught his eye. She was dressed in shadows, Mary Janes and only a light overcoat against the misty white spray of rain steadily pouring from the sky, frowning severely up at the clouds from under the floppy brim of a thin hood.

Alfred tilted his head, giving the handle of his umbrella a squeeze. Smiling again, he resumed walking, pleasantly whistling as he did. He stopped in front of the familiar girl and looked at her, tilting his head as she took a wary, suspicious step back.

"Hey there!" Alfred said, beaming at her. "Ya trapped in this rain?"

Natalia narrowed her eyes - they were an alluring shade of slate blue - and set her lips firmly. "I'm waiting for someone," she said, voice flowing out like ink on paper.

Alfred nodded. "Yeah, ok, but are ya sure you wanna wait for 'em any longer?" he asked, glancing at his watch. "'Cause it's gettin' pretty late. You should be at home wearing sweatpants and drinking cocoa at this time of ev'nin'. That's what I do when I get home, I mean, if it's not a practice day–"

"Why are you talking to me?" Natalia interrupted flatly. "We are not friends."

"We aren't?" Alfred asked, brows shooting up on his forehead.

Natalia shook her head. "Just because you are rivals with him does not mean–"

"Oh, sure it does!" The American grinned. "I like to think I'm friends with everybody! Well, except that Chinese kid. Yao, I think? I borrowed five bucks from him in freshman year and I have yet to hear the end of it. And like hell I'm friends with Arthur. He's like my mom."

Natalia frowned, clearly bemused. She heaved an irritable huff, reaching up under the floppy hood to adjust the loose bow in her hair. "Acquaintances, then," she amended patiently. "But that does not answer my question. Why are you talking to me?"

"Well," Alfred said, lowering his chin and looking at her over the top frame of his rain-speckled spectacles. "Since you're trapped here with no umbrella, I could walk ya home."

She quirked an eyebrow, faintly surprised. From her usual positions in the shadows and at her brother's side, she'd seen plenty of Alfred F. Jones. He was a talented athlete, a brilliant mind, a kind sweetheart, a very handsome young man… but no matter how outgoing he was, why would he stop to talk to her, the sister of someone he very clearly disliked, of all people? And walk her home, nonetheless?

"Why?" she asked again.

Alfred tilted his head, his gentle smile as warm as sunshine. "It's the nice thing to do," he answered simply. Then, he puffed out his chest and smirked. "The duties of a hero expand across many fields, from saving the world from aliens to rescuing pretty girls from burning buildings."

Alfred glanced up at the dark sky again. "Or, in this case, rain."

The corner of Natalia's thin pink lips twitched once. "Of course it is. Too bad I do not need to be saved," she replied, looking down and smoothing out her skirt. It was still flecked with dark spots of rain.

Alfred chuckled, and the jovial noise seemed to bounce off of every falling raindrop. "Come on, I insist," he said, shifting the umbrella from leaning on his shoulder to a more upright position. "If you won't walk with me, then I'll just keep you company then!"

Natalia narrowed her eyes again. "You are stubborn," she observed, shaking her head as a twinge of annoyance gripped her.

"Can't get rid of me easily," he agreed with a devilish grin.

She gazed at him for a few moments longer - with the heel on her Mary Janes, she was only an inch or two shorter than he was - before she sighed and took a cautious step toward him. "Fine. I must get home soon, so I shall accept your offer."

He laughed again, and moved the umbrella over her more. "Don't look so gloomy about it," he teased, nudging her gently with his elbow as she stepped up to his side. They began to walk down the sidewalk, huddled close under the brim of the umbrella. "I'm not as bad as your brother says, I promise."

"Of course you would say that," she said, adjusting the strap of her bag across her chest. "But I trust my brother more."

"Oh, harsh," he scoffed, giving a fake sniffle. "I'm hurt!"

Natalia shrugged. "It is true," she said simply, folding her hands in front of her. "Ivan is very intelligent, and he is aware that biased information can be dangerous. He would not say something that is untrue. It is just not his way."

"Yeah, I guess he does know what he's doing," Alfred admitted, flinching as a stray raindrop hit the left lens of his glasses.

Natalia hummed her agreement, then fell completely quiet. The silence was awkward, stretching between them and drawing out things that could have been said but weren't.

Finally, after an agonizing minute and thirty seconds of not talking, Alfred piped up again. "Ever see 'Singing In The Rain'?"

"I have not."

"Oh." Her short, blunt answer deterred him just a tad, but Alfred F. Jones would not let a frosty attitude get in his way. "It's really good. You oughta see it some time! It's got some real catchy tunes, and it's just a great movie in general!"

Natalia glanced over at him as he began to whistle again. She blinked as a cold drop of rain hit her forehead, and another hit her cheek. "You are not holding it over me," she said, feeling more drops soak into the shoulder of her overcoat. She reached up to find her entire shoulder speckled with dark, wet dots. "Rain is getting on me."

"Oh, sorry!" Alfred quickly adjusted the umbrella so that it was covering her.

"It does not matter." Natalia inched closer. She brought her weight down and stomped in a puddle, sending a spray up at the leg of Alfred's pants. "Now we're equally as wet," she remarked, smoothing out her skirt again and hiding a small smirk.

Alfred whined at the puddle water soaking into the fabric from the knee down, and stopped walking in order to observe the damage. "I oughta get you back for that," he tsked halfheartedly, his frown threatening to twitch into a smirk as he stared at her.

"Why? I returned the favor for ignorantly getting my shoulder wet. We are even."

"I didn't mean to, though! You splashed me on purpose!"

"I did."

Her quick agreement once again left him without words, so Alfred just shook his head and continued on. "Where's your house anyway? It's almost dinner."

"A little more." Natalia pulled a phone from the pocket of her dress and checked the time. The time was scrawled across a picture of stony-faced Natalia and her older brother Ivan, the arms of an older, beaming woman wrapped around their shoulders. (Ivan had terrible acne in the picture, Alfred noted with a little delight.) "But you did offer to walk me home, so you brought this upon yourself."

Alfred opened his mouth to object, but adjusted his grip on the umbrella and closed it again. "You make a good point," he admitted begrudgingly. He turned his head, and she looked back, vaguely startled by the intensity of his blue eyes behind his glasses, and the warm smile on his face. "But I'm glad I did."

Natalia's frown twitched, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her blushing ear. "I am too. Ivan cannot drive well. _Especially_ when it's raining…"

Alfred smirked. "I can. Stick _and_ automatic."

"Good for you." A scowl broke across her pale face, and she moved closer again. "You are very bad at holding an umbrella, Jones."

He bit his lip, muffling a surprised squawk as his heart jumped when she shifted closer to his side. "Sorry, it's hard," he muttered. His eyes flickered to her hand, clenched near her chest, and he cautiously grabbed at it, bringing it to the handle of the umbrella. "You try it, see how easy it is."

Natalia nodded and looked up at the red, white and blue striped umbrella, adjusting it accordingly over both of their heads. "It is not difficult, as you can see," she said smugly, keeping it steady even as they walked. "You might be able to drive stick shift on a car, but I am better at holding umbrellas properly."

"Maybe," he mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders. "But driving stick takes talent, y'know. Bet you couldn't do _that_."

"Bet I could."

"Alright. I'll take you up on that," he drawled, tilting his head and shooting her a sidelong smirk. "I'll let you drive my car sometime. Somewhere where there's no one else. Like, down a back road or something, in a pasture so you don't wreck my baby."

"I would not wreck your 'baby'," she protested flatly, rolling her eyes at the endearment of his car. "I will drive it well, because I passed my driver's test."

Alfred offered his right hand, fingers flat and palm facing outward. "Bet on it?"

Natalia nodded, switching the umbrella to her other hand. She clasped their hands together and gave his a firm shake. "I do," she said, quickly releasing his hand. It was pleasantly rough, and very warm. It made her realize that her own fingers were cold, and she didn't know what the odd flutter of her stomach was, but it was unnerving and that was enough knowledge for her.

He nodded sharply and grinned. "I think I recognize your house," he said, letting his hand drop back down to his side. "I've been there before, when Braginsky– erm, Ivan, and I had some science thing to do. It's that one down there, yeah?"

Natalia followed the line of his pointing finger, eyes landing on the large wooden house at the end of the block, and nodded. They increased their pace and didn't say more, her Mary Janes clacking along the sidewalk to the accompaniment of his scuffling sneakers.

They continued to walk, almost brushing, down the sidewalk and up the walkway to her house. A slight spying part in the curtains went unnoticed as they stepped onto the porch steps in matching footsteps. She turned back as he stopped on the top step, and he remained there, smiling beautifully.

"Thank you," Natalia suddenly said. It sounded as if she'd blurted it out, acting upon a whim.

Alfred blinked and gave her a look. "No prob," he replied, a smile slowly dawning onto his face. The rain falling around them lightened up somewhat, and he held out a hand, watching a few drops fall into his hand. "Anytime."

"…even if you did get my entire shoulder wet because you are bad at holding umbrellas." Natalia opened the front door with a smirk on her face, and left Alfred open-mouthed and scoffing on the porch.

Alfred shut himself up with a huff and shifted his weight, scrunching up his face as he stared at the door. His scowl faded into a soft smile and he recalled their conversation; shaking his head, he turned and made his way back down the walkway, picking his song back up from where he'd stopped to talk to Natalia earlier.

"…the sun's in my heart, and I'm reeeeady for looove!"


End file.
